Kevin Thomson has backed under-pressure St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson to be “big enough and brave enough” to come through the storm that has engulfed him.
After being dumped out of the Scottish Cup by Thomson’s excellent Kelty Hearts side, Davidson, his team and his staff were subjected to the verbal post-match fury of their own supporters as they made their way up the terracing and out of the ground to get changed.
As Saints now turn their focus to a Premiership basement battle against Dundee in midweek, the Perth boss will “take his medicine” and stay strong, according to his former Scotland team-mate.
“It’s not nice,” said Thomson. “You never like to see it. He’s a great lad, Callum, and I know Steven MacLean and Alex (Cleland) as well.
“There will be a time when I get stick, whether it’s at this club or whether it’s further down the line.
“Callum is a St Johnstone legend. It’s just the industry we live in. Callum will understand that.
“They’ve been on a poor run.
“To finish top six and win two cups last year was unbelievable.
“But the harsh reality is that sometimes when you get a bad defeat, you need to take your medicine.
“He will be big enough and brave enough to deal with that. You cannot let fans and social media and stuff like that affect you.
“They expect to beat us and they don’t expect to be at the bottom of the league but last year was such a hard thing to follow, losing their players when they did.
“There are loads of excuses but in football you don’t get any excuses when it comes to fans.”
